Sub-Surface Waste Management of Delaware, Inc., announced it has received regulatory agency approval and will commence next month another paid demonstration of its proprietary cleanup technology for soil contaminated with a combination of rocket propellant and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), commonly known as solvents, under contract with a confidential responsible party with a site in California.

In the United States ammonium perchlorate is used as an oxidizer in solid rocket propellant. The U.S. EPA has identified perchlorate users and manufacturers in 44 states and releases in 18 states, estimating that perchlorate affects the drinking water of 15 million people in the U.S. (see www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/perchlorate/perchlo.html[6]). In 2003, California's former governor signed into law two bills that requires users of perchlorate during the past 54 years to report its use, storage or leaks and establishes a statewide database to track contamination.

SSWM is developing a special blend of microbes and nutrients and proprietary engineering applications for the simultaneous treatment of perchlorates and VOCs in contaminated groundwater, a major problem in many states including California. Over the past 10 months, SSWM has been working with major defense contractors to provide actual site groundwater and soil treatment work plans for applicable environmental regulatory agencies. The successful demonstration of simultaneous treatment of perchlorates and VOC's could be a technology breakthrough which could help solve the perplexing problem of rocket propellant and solvent contamination slowly leaching into our agricultural food supply.

Bruce Beattie, President of SSWM stated, "We will be mobilizing once again our U.S. Patented Bio-Raptor(TM) treatment system to a confidential site with impacts to soil and groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene and other VOCs and perchlorates (commonly used as a rocket fuel propellant). SSWM additional paid pilot test work plan has been approved by the responsible regulatory agencies and will be monitored for its efficiency in rapidly processing impacted soil and subsequent reduction of toxins to mandated cleanup limits. We believe our proprietary biotechnology and engineering solutions for perchlorate and VOC cleanup represent a cost-effective alternative approach to a major contamination problem in California and other states. Our prior demonstrations have shown we can cleanup perchlorate contamination in as little as 10 days compared to conventional technologies that may take years!"